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Professor Longhair: A Brief Biography |
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Sunday, 05 February 2006 11:47 |
Professor Longhair
(Henry Roeland Byrd)
December 19, 1918-January 30, 1980
By John Sinclair
New Orleans piano giant Henry Roeland Byrd, better known as Professor Longhair, "The Bach of Rock," made musical history by forging a dynamic new synthesis which blended several existing forms into a single pulsating unit that both encapsulated the exact moment and predicted the musical direction of the next 50 years.
Born in Bogalusa, Louisiana in 1918 and bred in downtown New Orleans, Fess came of age between the wars and emerged full-blown as an important piano stylist and composer after World War II.
His music combined the most active elements of ragtime, calypso, boogie, blues, traditional and modern jazz--underpinned by the Crescent City street beat of the Mardi Gras Indians and the marching brass bands--to create an irresistibly idiosyncratic approach which precisely reflected the complexity of post-war urban life in the Deep South.
"The first guy to come along [after WW II] was Professor Longhair," saxophonist Alvin 'Red' Tyler" told historian John Broven.[1] "His own playing evolved into a beautiful, complex and completely original style," pianist George Winston added, "unique in the history of blues and jazz piano. As Fess said, 'I used to take all these things and put 'em in one big bag & shake 'em up & made a gumbo out of 'em.'"[2]
Although his early recordings, made for a succession of small R&B companies under a bewildering variety of names, were never big commercial hits, Professor Longhair's music had an overwhelming impact on the piano community. "His influence on the entire course of New Orleans R&B cannot be overstated," Jerry Wexler points out. "He was the instructor and role model for such keyboard giants as Fats Domino, Huey Smith, Dr. John, Allen Toussaint, James Booker and Art Neville."[3]
The young Roy Byrd entered public life as a tap-dancer hustling for tips on the streets of the Crescent City, then formed a little band that played on home-made instruments. "In his teens," Blues Unlimited editor Mike Leadbitter relates, "Longhair began to hang around the clubs and joints of New Orleans following the pianists. He'd watch and listen, when people like 'Kid Stormy Weather', Robert Bertrand and Sullivan Rock went to work on the keyboard; he watched and later tried to repeat their performances."[4)
Longhair himself was always quick to credit his artistic sources. "Archibald is about the swellest man that I know or have known, really," Fess told one writer. "He's deceased now, but he's part of my inspiration in playing piano. I like his style. I like his movements. 'Stormy Weather' was part of my inspiration. Father Tuts they called him at home. His name was Tuts Washington. And Cousin Joe really inspired me in the lyrics and the riddles and the poetry that he made. And I had the opportunity to learn piano from a fellow that was called Rocky Sullivan then. His real name was Sullivan Rock."[5]
According to blues scholars Tad Jones and Mindy Giles, "Byrd's mother, herself a professional musician, encouraged him to experiment, first on guitar, then on piano. But he didn't take his music seriously until he joined the Civilian Conservation Corps in 1937 and discovered he could avoid drilling and virtually all other work by playing piano for other Corps members in the recreation hall."[6]
"In addition to playing piano during the late 1930s," Leroy Pierson adds, "the Professor worked for the CCC, tried his hand at boxing, and sharpened his gambling skills enough to consider himself a professional card sharp by the time he was drafted into the army in 1942. In 1944 he was discharged for reasons of health and resumed his part-time career as a musician."[7]
Tad Jones and Mindy Giles continue: "When he returned home, Byrd found that there were more profitable ways of making a living than music. He worked first as a cook, then as a boxer, and finally found his niche as a professional card player. It wasn't until the late 1940s that he returned to music, and earned his famous nickname."[8]
How Roy Byrd became Professor Longhair is an oft-told tale that's become an essential text of New Orleans R&B mythology. "In 1949," Mike Leadbitter reports, "Dave Bartholomew was the local 'king' and one night Longhair dropped into the Caldonia Inn to listen to him. When Dave's pianist [Salvador Doucette] stepped down for a break, up stepped Longhair asking if he could 'sit in.' The crowd went wild over the 'new' sound that filled the club as Longhair took over the piano and more people came in off the street to see what was happening! The owner of the club, noticing the extra business he was handling, fired Bartholomew and hired Longhair!"[9]
As Byrd remembered it, "We had Big Slick on drums, Apeman Black on sax, and Walter Nelson on guitar. We had long hair in those days, and it was almost against the law. Mike [Tessitore, proprietor of the Caldonia Inn] says, I'm gonna keep you guys and call you Professor Longhair and the Four Hairs Combo. "[10]
Within months Byrd began attracting the attention of several small recording companies and soon cut his first 78 singles in a makeshift studio in the Hi Hat Club for Jesse Erickson's Houston-based Star Talent label. Billed as "Professor Longhair and His Shuffling Hungarians," the band cut "Mardi Gras in New Orleans" b/w "Professor Longhair's Boogie" (Star Talent 808) and "She Ain't Got No Hair" b/w "Bye Bye Baby" (Star Talent 808), both issued in late 1949.
Shortly Byrd was approached by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson of New York-based Atlantic Records, who recorded eight or nine songs with Fess in November 1949. Single releases on 78 rpm discs during 1950-51 included "Mardi Gras in New Orleans" b/w "She Walks Right In" (Atlantic 897, issued as by Professor Longhair & His New Orleans Boys), "Walk Your Blues Away" b/w "Professor Longhair Blues" (Atlantic 906, issued as by Professor Longhair & His Blues Scholars), and "Hey Little Girl" b/w "Willie Mae" (Atlantic 947, issued as by Roland Byrd).
Almost simultaneously Byrd went into the National Radio Recording Company studios on Canal Street and cut eight tracks at a marathon session with George Miller's Mid-Driffs for Mercury Records. Two 78 singles were issued under the name Roy Byrd & His Blues Jumpers ; the first, Bald Head (Mercury 8175), released in March 1950, cracked the national R&B charts in August and peaked at #5; the follow-up, "Her Mind Is Gone" b/w "Hadacol Bounce" (Mercury 8184), issued in August, ran into trouble due to Fess' ironic, exaggerated endorsement of Hadacol tonic and had to be withdrawn until the B side could be replaced with "Oh Well."[11]
The confusion surrounding Byrd's early recording career--three labels, five different monikers in two short years--seems to have cancelled out the prospect of national recognition engendered by the success of "Baldhead," although "Mardi Gras in New Orleans," his first Atlantic release, remains a local favorite even today.
Another negative factor, Tad Jones & Mindy Giles report, was that "Longhair was offered tours after the release of almost every record, but consistently chose to remain at home, playing the Caldonia, Pepper Pot, and other local clubs. He became famous for his outlandish stage costumes (tuxedos with red gloves and feathers, Army fatigues, etc.) and his habit of kicking the beat on the front of the piano until the instrument splintered." [12]
In an obvious attempt to capitalize on Byrd's modest hit for Mercury, Ralph Bass at Federal Records, a subsidiary of King, cut four sides on Roy "Bald Head" Byrd in New Orleans on December 4, 1951. Two 78s were released: "Curly Haired Baby" b/w "K.C. Blues" (Federal 12061) and "Gone So Long" b/w "Rockin' With Fess" (Federal 12073), but they quickly became collectors' items as few sales materialized.
According to Leroy Pierson, "In 1952 or 1953 Fess toured the Midwest with the Dave Bartholomew Orchestra featuring Fats Domino. They swung through Missouri with stops in Kansas City, Independence, and St. Louis and it was probably on this tour that 'East St. Louis Baby and 'Boyd's Bounce' were recorded for the Wasco label [under the name Robert Boyd]. Longhair had a vague memory of somebody recording him in a tavern but he never saw the record or had a contract for these songs."[13]
Ahmet Ertegun and Jerry Wexler came to New Orleans in November 1953 and recorded Fess again for Atlantic Records with the great house band at J&M Studios, but only one 78 single, "Tipitina" b/w "In the Night" (Atlantic 1020), was issued--as by Professor Longhair & His Blues Scholars. "Tipitina" became another enduring local favorite but failed to do anything nationally.
Then, "shortly after his second date for Atlantic," Leroy Pierson reports, "the Professor suffered a mild stroke which disabled him for a few years, interrupting a career of some commercial promise...."[14]
By 1957 Fess had recovered sufficiently to record six excellent sides in New Orleans for Beverly Rupe, issued on three 45 rpm Ebb Records singles: "No Buts, No Maybes" b/w "Cry Pretty Baby" (Ebb 101), "Misery" b/w "Look What You're Doing to Me" (Ebb 106), and "Baby Let Me Hold Your Hand" b/w "Look-a No Hair" (Ebb 121). These releases made little impact in the marketplace and would be Longhair's final recordings for a national label until the mid-1970s.
A succession of singles for small New Orleans-based record companies like Ron, Rip, and Watch followed between 1958-64, including a remake of "Mardi Gras in New Orleans"--now titled "Go to the Mardi Gras" (Ron 329)--which is still heard on the jukeboxes and radio airwaves of the Crescent City every Carnival season.
Another perennial jukebox hit, issued by Watch Records in 1964, was "Big Chief" (Pts. 1 & 2, Watch 45-1900), an Earl King tune featuring the composer's vocal and whistling and horn arrangements by Wardell Quezergue, "the Creole Beethoven."
Then Longhair just seemed to disappear from the scene, retreating into the status of local legend whose whereabouts were unknown to all but a few intimates. Blues scholars from all over the world were trying to track him down with little success until, as Blues Unlimited editor Mike Leadbitter recalls, "He was seen sweeping out a record shop in New Orleans and as a result I got the word that his address was at last known.
"On April 9, 1970," Leadbitter continues, "I flew into New Orleans with my ticket in my hand and a couple of friends, and we teamed up with James LaRocca, a local blues freak who had turned up Longhair.... We got to Rampart Street and there in a decaying house next to a rowdy juke-joint lived the Professor. We soon learned why he had been seen sweeping out a record shop--he was down and out, and very sad, as neglect, frustration and poor health had taken their toll.
"The man we met was no longer the big recording artist, but an old man, forgotten by friends, the public, and the music industry. Well, he thought the public had forgotten; the arrival of three Englishmen on his door-step quite shattered him and it was great to see a smile return to his face as we talked about those old records he made." [16]
Closer to home, two young rhythm & blues enthusiasts, Quint Davis and Allison Miner, were even more eager to locate the elusive legend in order to feature Fess at their embryonic New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, then held at Congo Square. Early in 1971, Jeff Hannusch relates, "Davis eventually tracked down Longhair in one of his haunts."
"I'd heard he used to come around Assunto's (One Stop Record Shop) on South Rampart Street," Davis told Hannusch. "He'd come in around Mardi Gras to borrow some money. One day I was in there asking about him, and he walked right in behind me. Someone said, 'That's him,' and I grabbed his hand and said, 'I've been looking for you!'
"He wasn't playing at all then," Davis continued. "He was in a totally depreciated state physically, along with poverty and rejection. When he sat down, he couldn't get up. When he did stand up, his knee would rattle around until it set into a groove so he could walk. He had a vitamin deficiency. He had no teeth, no digestion....
But he had this great spirit to endure no matter what. I mean he had to be 55 years old, living in this little house with next to nothing and to start all over for an unknown public. But he really believed he could have a reincarnation even with all that work in front of him. So I got him to play the Jazz Festival gig that year at Congo Square.
"You've got to remember the Jazz Festival wasn't a big thing back then," Davis told Hannusch, "there was hardly anybody there. But when Fess got up to play that upright piano, everything literally stopped. All of the musicians and all of the people came over to the stage where Fess was playing."
"He was like a different person after that," Allison Miner added. "It was like he was suddenly ten years younger. He was the hippest person you'd ever want to meet."[17]
Davis and Miner quickly took matters into hand and began preparing Fess for his incipient new career in the music business. A pivotal interview with Professor Longhair was published in Living Blues magazine, attracting much attention from members of the blues revival community, and Davis took Fess into Deep South Recorders in Baton Rouge in September 1971 to cut a comprehensive demo session with Snooks Eaglin on guitar and Fess' rhythm section of Will Harvey Jr. on bass and Shiba (Edwin Kimbrough) on drums.
Seventeen selections were recorded in Baton Rouge, including contemporary remakes of "Mardi Gras in New Orleans," "Tipitina," "Big Chief," "Gone So Long," and "No Buts No Maybes," but despite a flurry of interest from several labels no recording contract could be secured.
Davis then took Fess into Ardent Studios in Memphis in June 1972 and cut another 15 songs, including remakes of "Tipitina," "She Ain't Got No Hair," "Her Mind Is Gone," "Hey Now Baby" and "Dr. Professor Longhair," with backing by Snooks, bassist George Davis and drummer Zigaboo Modeliste of the Meters. These sides were delivered to Albert Grossman's Bearsville Records in Woodstock, New York, but weren't issued until long after Longhair's death.
Atlantic Records kept attention focused on Fess with its 1972 release of New Orleans Piano, a compilation of Longhair's four Atlantic singles plus several unissued masterpieces from 1949 ("Hey Now Baby," "Longhair's Blues Rhumba," "Boogie Woogie") and 1953 ("Ball the Wall" and "Who's Been Fooling You").
But it took French producer Philippe Rault, representing Barclay Records, to make Fess' first comeback album in 1974. "I remember meeting the Professor at his home on Rampart Street [at Terpsichore] on a cold December night in 1972," Rault recalled for the American release of these sessions on Dancing Cat Records.
"I had been taken there courtesy of Quint Davis and Allison Miner, who wanted me to attend the Wild Magnolias' bi-weekly Indian practice. It turned out that this rehearsal was regularly taking place in the front room of Fess' decaying single story white frame house in Uptown New Orleans."[19]
Completely taken by the vitality and exuberance of Fess' playing, Rault arranged to record Longhair with a stellar band comprising the equally legendary Clarence 'Gatemouth' Brown on guitar, Julius Farmer on bass, Shiba on drums, and Alfred 'Uganda' Roberts on congas. Fourteen sides, including "Tipitina" and "Mardi Gras in New Orleans," were recorded at Studio in the Country, just outside Fess' birthplace in Bogalusa, Louisiana, on April 3 and 4, 1974, but the album, Rock & Roll Gumbo, was released only in Europe.
* * * * *
(Incomplete)
* * * * *
--New Orleans
1992
(c) 1992, 2006 John Sinclair. All Rights Reserved.
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